healthylifestyleforwomen

August 3, 2010

Part II Reading Comprehension [Skimming and scanning] (15minutes) Directions: In this part, you will have 15minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet1. For questions 1-4, mark Y (for YES) if the statement agrees with the information given in the passage N (for NO) if the statement contradicts with the information given in the passage NG (for NOT GIVEN) if the information is not given in the passage For questions 5-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage. Low-Fat Diet Does Not Cut Health Risks, Study Finds The largest study ever to ask whether a low-fat diet reduces the risk of getting cancer or heart disease has found that the diet has no effect. The $ 415 million federal study involved nearly 49,000 women ages 50 to 79 who were followed for eight years. In the end, those assigned to a low-fat diet had the same rates of breast cancer, colon cancer, heart attacks and strokes as those who ate whatever they pleased, researchers are reporting today. \”These studies are revolutionary,\” said Dr. Jules Hirsch, physician in chief emeritus at Rockefeller University in New York City, who has spent a lifetime studying the effects of diets on weight and health. \”They should put a stop to this era of thinking that we have all the information we need to change the whole national diet and make everybody healthy.\” The study, published in today ''s issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association, was not just an ordinary study, said Dr. Michael Thun, who directs epidemiological research for the American Cancer Society. It was so large and so expensive, Dr. Thun said, that it was \”the Rolls-Royce of studies.\” As such, he added, it is likely to be the final word. \”We usually have only one shot at a very large-scale trial on a particular issue,\” he said. The results, the study investigators agreed, do not justify recommending low-fat diets to the public to reduce their heart disease and cancer risk. Given the lack of benefit found in the study, many medical researchers said that the best dietary advice, for now, was to follow federal guidelines for healthy eating, with less saturated and trans fats, more grains, and more fruits and vegetables. Not everyone was convinced. Some, like Dr. Dean Ornish, a longtime promoter of low-fat diets and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Calif., said that the women did not reduce their fat to low enough levels or eat enough fruits and vegetables, and that the study, even at eight years, did not give the diets enough time. Others said that diet could still make a difference, at least with heart disease, if people were to eat the so-called Mediterranean diet, low in saturated fats like butter and high in oils like olive oil. The women in the study reduced all kinds of fat . The diets studied \”had an antique patina,\” said Dr. Peter Libby, a cardiologist and professor at Harvard Medical School. These days, Dr. Libby said, most people have moved on from the idea of controlling total fat to the idea that people should eat different kinds of fat. But the Mediterranean diet has not been subjected to a study of this scope, researchers said. And Barbara V. Howard, an epidemiologist at MedStar Research Institute, a nonprofit hospital group, and a principle investigator in the study, said people should realize that diet alone was not enough to stay healthy. \”We are not going to reverse any of the chronic diseases in this country by changing the composition of the diet,\” Dr. Howard said. \”People are always thinking it''s what they ate. They are not looking at how much they ate or that they smoke or that they are sedentary. \”Except for not smoking, the advice for a healthy lifestyle is based largely on indirect evidence, Dr. Howard said , but most medical researchers agree that it makes sense to eat well, control weight and get regular exercise. That is also what the cancer society recommends. Dr. Thun, who described the study''s results as \”completely null over the eight- year follow-up for both cancers and heart disease, \”said his group had no plans to suggest that low-fat diets were going to protect against cancer. Others cautioned against being too certain that a particular diet would markedly improve health, and said that whether someone developed a chronic disease might not be entirely under their control – genetics also plays a role. The study was part of the Women''s Health Initiative of the National Institutes of Health, the same program that showed that hormone therapy after menopause might have more risks than benefits. In this case, the study addressed a tricky problem. For decades, many scientists have said, and many members of the public have believed, that what people eat – the composition of the diet – determines how likely they are to get a chronic disease. But that has been hard to prove. Studies of dietary fiber and colon cancer failed to find that fiber was protective, and studies of vitamins thought to protect against cancer failed to show an effect. Many cancer researchers have questioned large parts of the diet-cancer hypothesis, but it has kept a hold on the public imagination. \”Nothing fascinates the American public so much as the notion that what you eat rather than how much you eat affects your health,\” said Dr. Libby, the Harvard professor. The study found that women who were randomly assigned to follow a low-fat diet ate significantly less fat over the next eight years. But they had just as much breast and colon cancer and just as much heart disease. The women were not trying to lose weight, and their weights remained fairly steady. But their experiences with the diets allowed researchers to question some popular notions about diet and obesity. There is a common belief that Americans get fat because they eat too many carbohydrates. The idea is that a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet leads to weight gain, higher insulin and blood glucose levels, and more diabetes, even if the calories are the same as in a higher-fat diet. That did not happen here. Others have said the opposite: that low-fat diets enable people to lose weight naturally. But that belief was not supported by this study. As for heart disease risk factors, the only one affected was LDL cholesterol, which increases heart disease risk. The levels were slightly higher in women eating the higher-fat diet, but not high enough to make a noticeable difference in their risk of heart disease. Although all the study participants were women, the colon cancer and heart disease results should also apply to men, said Dr. Jacques Rossouw, the project officer for the Women''s Health Initiative. Dr. Rossouw said the observational studies that led to the hypothesis about colon cancer and dietary fat included men and women. With heart disease, he said, researchers have found that women and men respond in the same way to dietary fat.Skip to next paragraph The most recent study follows a smaller one, reported last year, on low-fat diets for women who had breast cancer. That study hinted that eating less fat might help prevent a recurrence. But the current study, asking if a low-fat diet could protect women from breast cancer in the first place, had findings that fell short of statistical significance, meaning they could have occurred by chance. Dr. Rossouw said he was still intrigued by the breast cancer data, even though it was not statistically significant. The women on low-fat diets had a 9 percent lower rate of breast cancer; the incidence was 42 per 10,000 per year in women in the low-fat diet group, compared with 45 per 10,000 per year in women consuming their regular diet. That could mean that fat in the diet may have a small effect, Dr. Rossouw said, perhaps in some subgroups of women or over a longer period of time. He added that the study investigators would continue to follow the women to see if the effect became more pronounced. While cancer researchers said they were disappointed by the results, heart disease researchers said they were not surprised that simply reducing total fat had no effect, because they had moved on from that hypothesis. Of course, Dr. Libby acknowledged, the latest advice, to follow a Mediterranean diet and get regular exercise, has never been tested in a large randomized clinical trial. \”If they did a study like that and it was negative , \”he said,\” then I''d have to give up my cherished hypotheses for data. \”1. According to Dr. Jules Hirsch of the Rockefeller University in New York City, the idea of a healthy whole national diet____ A) is very important to people's well-being B) put a stop to improve our health C) may not exactly exist D) is the need of our ear 2. What is the attitude of Dr. Dean Ornish towards this study? A) It is scientific and acceptable B) More fruits and vegetable will reduce fat lever C) 8 years is not long enough D) The study needs more consideration and time 3. Which of the followings is the characteristic of Mediterranean diet? A) A kind of olive oil B ) Low in fats and high in oils C) Low in oils and high in fats D) a mix of butter and olive oil 4. According to Dr. Howard, advice for a healthy lifestyle_____ A) is hard to prove in most cases B) is based largely on not-smoking C) can be achieved by indirect evidence D) is mainly about eating well, controlling weight and regular exercise 5. As part of the Women''s Health Initiative of the National Institutes of Health, this study______ A ) showed the benefit of hormone therapy B) proved that what people eat is the key factor of well-being C) proved that dietary fiber and vitamins were effective to prevent disease D) challenged many long-believed concepts about healthy diet in people's mind 6 . In the eye of Dr. Libby, American people_____ A) are fascinated by health diets B) tend to think what they eat outweigh how much they eat in keeping healthy C) question large parts of the diet-cancer hypothesis D) are fascinated by nothing but what they eat 7. Dr. Jacques Rossouw, the project officer for the Women''s Health Initiative, believes_____ A) men should participate this study B) there is sexual discrimination in the study C) all the results of study are applicable to both men and women D) men and women share some of the results of study 8. A recent smaller study last year showed that low-fat diets may contribute to_____________ for women who had breast cancer. 9. According to Dr. Rossouw, low -fat diet may have a small effect in some subgroups of women or _________. 10. Dr. Libby admitted that he would not give up his cherished hypotheses for data unless the advice had been examined in _____________.